In Autonomous Technology: Technics-Out-Of-Control (1989), Langdon Winner takes a
sobering look at modern predicament:
Society is composed of persons who cannot design, build, repair, or even operate most of
the devices upon which their lives depend.... In the complexity of this world people are
confronted with extraordinary events and functions that are literally unintelligible to
them. They are unable to give an adequate explanation of man-made phenomena in their
immediate experience. They are unable to form a coherent, rational picture of the whole.
Under the circumstances, all persons do, and indeed must, accept a great number of
things on faith....Their way of understanding is basically religious, rather than scientific;
only a small portion of one’s everyday experience in the technological society can be
made scientific....The plight of members of the technological society can be compared to
that of a newborn child.
Much of the data that enters its sense does not form coherent
wholes. There are many things the child cannot understand or, after it has learned to
speak, cannot successfully explain to anyone.... Citizens of the modern age in this respect
are less fortunate than children. They never escape a fundamental bewilderment in the
face of the complex world that their senses report. They are not able to organize all or
even very much of this into sensible wholes.... An objection might be raised that
difficulties of the sort I have mentioned soon will have remedies. Systems theory,
artificial intelligence, or some new modern way of knowing will alleviate the burdens....
Soon there will exist tools of intellectual synthesis. I must report I found no such tools in
practice. I have surveyed the various candidates for this honor—systems theory and
systems analysis, computer sciences and artificial intelligence, new methods of coding
great masses of information, the strategy of disjointed incrementalism and so forth. As
relief for the difficulties raised here none of these offers much help.... The systems idea is
another—and indeed the ultimate—technique to shape man and society.
The upper 5 percent was divided into three "twice-born" groups.
1. Brahmins—Priests and those trained for law, medicine, teaching, and other professional occupations.
2. The warrior and administrative caste.
3. The industrial caste, which would include land cultivators and mercantile groups.
The lower 95 percent was divided into:
1. The menial caste.
2. Pariahs, called "untouchables." (edited)
The Prussian mind, which carried the day, held a clear idea of what centralized schooling should deliver:
1) Obedient soldiers to the army;
2) Obedient workers for mines, factories, and farms;
3) Well-subordinated civil servants, trained in their function;
4) Well-subordinated clerks for industry;
5) Citizens who thought alike on most issues;
6) National uniformity in thought, word, and deed.
"Ninety-nine [students] out of a hundred are automata, careful to walk in prescribed paths, careful to follow the prescribed custom. This is not an accident but the result of substantial education, which, scientifically defined, is the subsumption of the individual." –The Philosphy of Education (1906) (edited)
"The great purpose of school can be realized better in dark, airless, ugly places.... It is to master the physical self, to transcend the beauty of nature. School should develop the power to withdraw from the external world." –The Philosphy of Education (1906)
"Nearly a hundred years ago, this schoolman thought self-alienation was the secret to successful industrial society. Surely he was right. When you stand at a machine or sit at a computer you need an ability to withdraw from life, to alienate yourself without a supervisor. How else could that be tolerated unless prepared in advance by simulated Birkenhead drills? School, thought Harris, was sensible preparation for a life of alienation. Can you say he was wrong? "
" Stemming from his philosophical alignment with Hegel, Harris believed that children were property and that the state had a compelling interest in disposing of them as it pleased. Some would receive intellectual training, most would not. Any distinction that can be made between Harris and later weak curriculum advocates (those interested in stupefaction for everybody) is far less important than substantial agreement in both camps that parents or local tradition could no longer determine the individual child’s future. "
"Mann proclaimed the State must assert itself as primary parent of children. If an infant’s natural parents were removed—or if parental ability failed (as was increasingly certain)—it was the duty of government to step in and fill the parent’s place. Mann noted that Massachusetts had a long tradition of being "parental in government." His friend Sears described the State as "a nourishing mother, as wise as she is beneficent. Yet, should difficulties arise, the State might become stern—as befits a ruling patriarch." (emphasis added)
sobering look at modern predicament:
Society is composed of persons who cannot design, build, repair, or even operate most of
the devices upon which their lives depend.... In the complexity of this world people are
confronted with extraordinary events and functions that are literally unintelligible to
them. They are unable to give an adequate explanation of man-made phenomena in their
immediate experience. They are unable to form a coherent, rational picture of the whole.
Under the circumstances, all persons do, and indeed must, accept a great number of
things on faith....Their way of understanding is basically religious, rather than scientific;
only a small portion of one’s everyday experience in the technological society can be
made scientific....The plight of members of the technological society can be compared to
that of a newborn child.
Much of the data that enters its sense does not form coherent
wholes. There are many things the child cannot understand or, after it has learned to
speak, cannot successfully explain to anyone.... Citizens of the modern age in this respect
are less fortunate than children. They never escape a fundamental bewilderment in the
face of the complex world that their senses report. They are not able to organize all or
even very much of this into sensible wholes.... An objection might be raised that
difficulties of the sort I have mentioned soon will have remedies. Systems theory,
artificial intelligence, or some new modern way of knowing will alleviate the burdens....
Soon there will exist tools of intellectual synthesis. I must report I found no such tools in
practice. I have surveyed the various candidates for this honor—systems theory and
systems analysis, computer sciences and artificial intelligence, new methods of coding
great masses of information, the strategy of disjointed incrementalism and so forth. As
relief for the difficulties raised here none of these offers much help.... The systems idea is
another—and indeed the ultimate—technique to shape man and society.
The upper 5 percent was divided into three "twice-born" groups.
1. Brahmins—Priests and those trained for law, medicine, teaching, and other professional occupations.
2. The warrior and administrative caste.
3. The industrial caste, which would include land cultivators and mercantile groups.
The lower 95 percent was divided into:
1. The menial caste.
2. Pariahs, called "untouchables." (edited)
The Prussian mind, which carried the day, held a clear idea of what centralized schooling should deliver:
1) Obedient soldiers to the army;
2) Obedient workers for mines, factories, and farms;
3) Well-subordinated civil servants, trained in their function;
4) Well-subordinated clerks for industry;
5) Citizens who thought alike on most issues;
6) National uniformity in thought, word, and deed.
"Ninety-nine [students] out of a hundred are automata, careful to walk in prescribed paths, careful to follow the prescribed custom. This is not an accident but the result of substantial education, which, scientifically defined, is the subsumption of the individual." –The Philosphy of Education (1906) (edited)
"The great purpose of school can be realized better in dark, airless, ugly places.... It is to master the physical self, to transcend the beauty of nature. School should develop the power to withdraw from the external world." –The Philosphy of Education (1906)
"Nearly a hundred years ago, this schoolman thought self-alienation was the secret to successful industrial society. Surely he was right. When you stand at a machine or sit at a computer you need an ability to withdraw from life, to alienate yourself without a supervisor. How else could that be tolerated unless prepared in advance by simulated Birkenhead drills? School, thought Harris, was sensible preparation for a life of alienation. Can you say he was wrong? "
" Stemming from his philosophical alignment with Hegel, Harris believed that children were property and that the state had a compelling interest in disposing of them as it pleased. Some would receive intellectual training, most would not. Any distinction that can be made between Harris and later weak curriculum advocates (those interested in stupefaction for everybody) is far less important than substantial agreement in both camps that parents or local tradition could no longer determine the individual child’s future. "
"Mann proclaimed the State must assert itself as primary parent of children. If an infant’s natural parents were removed—or if parental ability failed (as was increasingly certain)—it was the duty of government to step in and fill the parent’s place. Mann noted that Massachusetts had a long tradition of being "parental in government." His friend Sears described the State as "a nourishing mother, as wise as she is beneficent. Yet, should difficulties arise, the State might become stern—as befits a ruling patriarch." (emphasis added)
